European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 19, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Lawrence Kutner new York times the things that children Lind Lunny Lellus a Garcal Deal about their level of development and what is on their mind there is a connection Between the 2-year-Oldwho bursts Inlo a fit of giggles upon hearing inc nonsense phrase bottle Balme. By Ella and Iho Young Adolf scene Vino laughs at the naughtiness of a joke about Sot by understanding that con Naclion. Childhood researchers say you can learn things Ghoul your children you otherwise might not sea. Laughter 15 so integral a part of childhood thai Tho Raie child who does no laugh and the child who Connis lonely laughs inappropriately need our immediate attention the laugh Tess child May to seriously depressed and should to evaluated by a paediatrician. I Equen inappropriate laughter May to the Only Way Achilli can Tell you that she is Over anxious and needs help coping will Tho stresses in her Lite. You should spent lotion cachet and. Perhaps her paediatrician As Well researchers have found that a 12-hour-old infant will smile at the smell of a banana or other Sweet Lood. Our nervous by slams appear Loba wired to make us smile. No  o Imi Lalion is needed. T Rue laughter. Which is More Complex than smiling does not appear until a few months Laler the child learns some very profound things during her first dozen months. She recognizes Hal she is an individual Dis Mcl irom her Rno Lher. She also begins to understand thai people and objects exist even when Sho cannot Sec them. Her understanding of Whoso concepts is Roi located in what makes her laugh. Few things elicit As much laughter irom a 1 year old child As a game of peekaboo. The intensity of Hal Laur Jutei Leller. You about her development. She s showing that she gats it that s my mom behind those  said or. Ann Maslen. A clinical Psycha Loisl at the tvs Dilulo of child development Al the univ icily Minnesota in Minneapolis ii is a  ital would have eluded Tho chid Only a few weel Sor monies earlier giggles con be dues to child s Progress the game of peekaboo Slit works if done in silence watching her father s face disappear behind his hands excites the child. Sho knows her lather is Back there and predicts thai he will reappear. It is a tense situation when her lather s face comes Back into View la child is relieved. She laughs Wilh excitement. Whal was acary is now fun. For she can predict the future if her father keeps his face hidden Tor too Long however the child s tension will turn to fear and she will cry. Once a child understands a concept Sho takes great Joy in playing Wilh in. A 2-year-old who is beginning to master the intricacies of language will Giggle uncontrollably when she hears a combination of words and nonsense syllables. She understands thai the nonsense syllables Are different from ins words the sounds Are out of place they Are funny. Other things Hal Are Oul of place Waltl get the same laughter from a 2-year-old, Lor she is learning that there 0 in order to the world racing her sock on her tool is not funny. Placing in on her ear is hysterical to her because Sho realizes thai in does not belong there. She shares her Mastery o that knowledge through laughter she May also Tell you Lor the first time that she is being silly. Unlike the younger child playing peekaboo. The 2-year-old has controlled the stimulus for her laughter. She has made a joke. Feeling Safe during an emotionally arousing situation is another key to laughter psychologists say. A 3-year. Old will scream with glee when Given the Chance to Lide on daddy s shoulders or hang upside Down irom Mommy s arms. Yel both Are dangerous and scary situations to the child. Ii a Patent throws e child in the air Iho child will laugh Masten said ii a self anger tries it the child will cry because he does t know he s  a 6-year-old child no longer ids peekaboo or socks hanging from bars As funny As they once had been Tho Challenge and the tension of those tasks has been replaced by a new found appreciation of logic and abstractions. The riddles and jokes that make the child laugh contain Surprise endings and plays on words. They Are simple versions of the humor we enjoy As adults. The innocent tone of children s jokes changes before they leave elementary school. For reasons psychologist do not fully understand by the fourth or Ullh Grade boys laugh Al different things than girls do. By the time a boy is 10 years old he s telling some Vety aggressive and very sexual  said or. Gary Alan Fine a sociologist Al Tho University o Minnesota who spent three years studying the humor used by Hoys on lil lie league baseball teams. Girls at thai age like humor ih3t is less physically but More verbally aggressive perhaps because they have belter verbal skills than boys. They tease each other Aboul boyfriends and acl like caricatures of the vamps they see on soap operas for example. Despite the apparent differences both boys and girls Are using humor to accomplish 1he same. It s an indirect Way to Deal with Complex issues such As sexuality said or. Donna Eder. A sociologist Al Indiana University in Tao Ringlon who has eluded humor among Middle school girls. The children Are also de lining their membership in a particular social group. The anus who get the joke belong to the group the others Are outsiders. Sli. The subject Matler of the jokes and the loading May upset parents ii can be disconcerting to overhear your 11-year-old son laughing Al a joke about prostitution or abortion should you be worried you should t be concerned if your child seems Normal otherwise Fine said. He s just trying to come to terms Wilh a set of adult  associated press Neari. Y a Quarter of Al american children now live with Juil on parcel. And Hocini is Bureau estimates i i to More than Hail will of soft Jin it Ioie they Roach Odu Shooti.  a i of or no households a a try i j 1wo, Only Ono child in 10   in 3 mar a Pilione household by 1dh  ii Fine  risen to 24 percent. Ii Hijtc-.lti-.3irj in n ror enl in porn Vern Ruhs m,vtl3l Statts and living Arran pm t 5 Pimp arc by Silenc f. Salute Rol the Chrisus Bureau s marriage Anco family statistics Branch 1 he study Osi mated thai 14.8 minion youngsters under the age of 18 were living Wilh Only one Parent in 1986, up irom Semi biotin i960 during the same 24% of . Kids live with one Parent  docs the total number of americans age id and under dipped irom 63.7 million to 6? 7 Milbon. The Bureau no cd while one youngster in four was living i a one Parent household in 19e6. The Liui Cau is lira de thai As Many As so percent will spend Al least some time in one Parent households. Of the children in one Parent households 89 percent lived Wilh their mothers and 11 percent Wilh their fathers. Iho study found forty two percent were children of divorced parents while 27 percent were children of parents who had never married. Twenty four percent More had parents who were married but separated and 7 percent had a widowed Parent. The report noted thai among while children 18 percent lived with one Parent in 1986. Compared Wilh 30 percent of hispanic children and 53 percent of Black children Tho report also Lound that More Young adults Between the Ages of 10 and Al were remaining in Thor parents Homes. Between 1360 and 1936, the percentage of women m this ago group who were living on then owner with husbands dropped from 53 be scene Lojo percent for men in inc same Ages group the percentage fell irom 34 Peic enl to 27 per cell 01 i Host who Nave gone of on i hair own the Bureau slim Ald that 2.2 million unmarried couples were living together ill 1996, an  1.9 million couples the year before. The study was based on a Survey of 57,000 households and interviews were conducted in person in March 198g. The margin of sampling error vanes on each question because not everyone interviewed answered adj questions. Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday february 19,1988